Halloween season or not, Brent Lill’s way with magic and illusion has been hitting the mark just fine at Plymouth Meeting’s Plaza Azteca restaurant. Lill — trading as Tiggar’s Comedy Magic Shows — has become a Wednesday night staple at the Plymouth Road eatery. And as the genial showman navigates the busy dining room — legerdemain, patter and dramatic flourishes at the ready — it’s clear he’s playing to an appreciative audience.

“The easiest to entertain are the 4- and 5-year-olds,” Lill says. “They love the sponge ball trick just as I did when I was their age. They start with one in their hand, and by the time the trick is over, they have eight of them appear in their little hands. And at that age, everything is magical.

“The toughest … is your executive audience, but that’s when I pull out the heavy artillery and hit ‘em with the mind stunt magic. For example, telling them how much change they have in their pockets, which word they’re thinking of or even having a key bend in their hands.”

And if that doesn’t impress:

“Having two people think of the number of a card … and the suit … and (having it be) the only card turned upside down in the deck … always leaves them in amazement.”

Advertisement

When it comes to tricks, Lill’s personal favorites are “the time-tested … cups and balls and the crushed soda can that refills itself”; his favorite illusion, “the cube zag, which is the modern version of saw a lady in half.”

Speaking of damsels in distress, he taught wife Crystal Lynn “the art of escape, illusion and quick change” eight years ago, and the two are partners in another favorite routine.

“My wife … is tied up and has a man stand in front of her with a red jacket on,” Lill says. “Then, a big hoop of cloth is brought up, and when it’s brought down, she has the red jacket on … and is still tied up. When she’s untied, she steps into the hoop, and in a blink of the eye she changes her dress three times, winding up in a final sparkly dress. Then I step in and change into a hot dog vendor outfit … in a matter of three seconds.”

How does it work?

Don’t ask.

On the other hand, Lill is perfectly happy to reminisce about his magical roots in Pennsylvania’s Berks County.

Enter Uncles Charlie and Jonas — a pair of confirmed “tricksters and jokesters.”

“Uncle Charlie … would pull a little yellow pencil out of your ear and point to his forehead, where he would smack the pencil into his head and make it disappear,” Lill remembers. “A few seconds later, Uncle Charlie would produce out of his nose.”

“He would be able to tell you which card you picked over the other end of the phone line,” Lill says. “Those two men were the ones that planted the seeds of magic in my mind.”

Ditto the guy who walked up to 8-year-old Lill and his father as they lunched in the bar at Weber’s Hotel in his native Alsace Manor, Pa., and asked — much as he asks people now — whether he’d like to see a trick.

“He proceeded to pull a quarter out of my ear, but instead of smacking it on his forehead, he began to rub the quarter,” Lill recalls. “It started to smoke, and then the magic happened. He blew on it, and right before my eyes — poof — it disappeared. I immediately tugged on my dad’s arm and asked him to take me to a magic shop … which he did. The shop was called Mingus Magic Shop , and Wayne Shifflett taught me my first real magic trick — the sponge balls, which I still use today in my shows.”

Lill also credits mentors Jack Baush, Scott Correll and Mark Boedy for helping him hone his craft and says he’s still learning “wherever I can.” He went pro in 1992 when he became a stage magician at Allentown’s Dorney Park. Since then, he’s also performed at Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster and Knoebels amusement park in Elysburg; at events that have ranged from Philadelphia Phillies game days to civic group and church programs (“I do tricks, but God does miracles”), corporate gigs (drawing on illusion skills built around “human behavior, body language and the art of suggestive mind control … great for corporate programs”) and private parties.

In addition, Lill’s offbeat résumé offers “lectures” on “Amazing Money Facts,” “Stuff You Just Don’t See Every Day” and the aptly named “Strange and Unusual Lecture.” He’s also the creative talent behind a DVD called “Elegant Paper Towel Folding.”

Among his most memorable encounters over the years?

“The funniest thing that ever happened to me in magic was , three Amish men cornered me outside and asked if I was born a magician or became one,” Lill says. “I had to explain a trick to them to prove I wasn’t using evil powers to accomplish my tricks. After I did, the one said, ‘Oh, you’re just a trickster then,’ we all walked away laughing.”